The French's Mustard Hack You Didn't Even Know About

Glass jars of condiments have pretty much gone the way of the rotary phone. We no longer debate the best place to tap the bottle, although TODAY told us it was the embossed label on the neck, and the days of shoving a knife into the jar for dislodging condiments may be behind us. The first innovation of French's mustard was in 1974 with the introduction of its plastic barrel squeeze bottle, according to Just Food. That solved getting the mustard out of the bottle. Then, in 2002, they brought us the "flip tip cap" which was designed to pull mustard back into the bottle, rather than have it spill into the lid where it can gunk up the seal.

Problem solved and now we can focus on simply enjoying the mustard with less mess! Not quite. The flip-top lids tend to get in the way of our mustard squiggling. A careful condiment connoisseur might be able to keep the lid out of the way, but, as soon as that lid gets dipped into the mustard or crosses the mustard stream, it's a disaster. As the mustard dries it can make the next squirt unpredictable, leading to more mess. And before you know it, you can't close the lid.

French's mustard wants your bottle experience to be a clean one and the company continues to innovate. This time, it's a small peg on the shoulder of the lid that locks the flip-top cap into a wide-open position. Now, that lid is out of the way and stays there. It's not a brand-new design but it's gained some applause after Chris Notap created a video highlighting this feature. They point out all the squeeze bottle follies that this design can eliminate.

Other companies are following suit with squeeze bottle innovations. Conroy Foods' "Flip tip" cap promises one hand use and uses a similar lock onto the shoulder design as French's. It's available on all of Beano's Deli Condiments. If you still don't trust these locking lids, you can get your own. Flip-it Cap replaces the lid that came with the bottle and adds this "bottle emptying kit." This lid design uses a tripod design to keep the bottle stored lid-side down. In theory, you'll be able to get to every last drop. We can't afford to waste any mustard.